Disco Turkeys almost set for first baseball in Bowman Gray Stadium history

WINSTON-SALEM, NC (6/27/23) – The Carolina Disco Turkeys are nearly set for the first baseball games in the long history of Bowman Gray Stadium.

Bowman Gray has hosted NASCAR, college football games, NFL preseason games, boxing matches; but never baseball.

The Disco Turkeys will play home games as part of the Q104.1 Baseball at Bowman-Gray Series on the site of the 86-year-old stadium on July 2, 3 and 4 with open seating tickets priced at $10. The July 2 game, a dog night with the Forsyth Humane Society, will begin at 4 p.m. The July 3 and 4 games begin at 6:30 p.m.

The Turkeys (9-6) take on their rival, the Uwharrie Wampus Cats, for the July 2 and 3 games at Bowman Gray.

For July 4, they’ll face off with the Winston-Salem Moravians, a local squad in their second-year operated by the same organization. All teams in the series feature college baseball players playing in the summer with wooden bats.

Local band Just Gophers are confirmed performers for the July 4 game with a set to take place right after gates open at 5:30 and leading up to first pitch. The Disco Turkeys are also working on special entertainment for the first two games, as well as new merchandise options and a special edition beer that will be available at the games.

The games at Bowman Gray, a longtime and storied home for NASCAR and college football, will be something different and groundbreaking for fans but not totally without some MLB precedent. The Dodgers played at the Los Angeles Coliseum from 1958 to 1961 while Dodger Stadium was being built following their move from Brooklyn. The Dodgers played an exhibition game in 2008 when they set the baseball world attendance record at the LA Coliseum – a venue that hosts football and auto racing and features a short outfield fence in a baseball setup.

“We’ve been especially waiting for these games all season,” said Disco Turkeys team president and co-owner Greg Sullivan. “We recently had a gigantic turf pitcher’s mound to college specifications delivered to us and the netting backstop came in. It’s all real now and we can’t wait to get the players in there coming up. We’re still expecting a lot of home runs to right field with the short porch, but we can’t stress enough how excited we are to be playing in this historic venue and doing something that hasn’t been done in our city. This will be the place to watch a baseball game in North Carolina this year.”

The Disco Turkeys have players on the roster from JUCO to Division 1 and feature several players with local and area ties. They’ve also won 8 out of their last 11 games.

“We know we’ve got a team this year that’s fun to watch,” Sullivan said. “I think when you add this setting to it, it’s going to be fun for families, and racing fans and people who love the Bowman Gray venue will love checking us out too.”